The present invention relates generally to in-line printers and deals more specifically with an in-line printer having automatic positioning multiple assemblies of print heads.
In-line configured printers are important because they minimize the length (along the substrate or printing medium) of the print zone, and thereby minimize the overall envelope of the printing machine. Accommodating a longer print zone expands the overall printing machine envelope, which is critical to cost, weight, installation space, inventory and shipping. In-line printers, particularly in-line printers for printing indicia, return address, destination address and/or destination barcode together with optional message line and/or destination barcode on a substrate such as a mail piece, use multiple spaced assemblies of print heads to carry out the required printing.
The positioning of the print head assemblies in such in-line printers is typically accomplished by manual movement of the assemblies with respect to one another in those in-line printers that have movable print head assemblies and after such manual location are then locked in a fixed location. The position of the various areas of information to be printed are located relative to one another with variable spacing depending upon the width of the printing medium material, such as, for example, a print stock postal card, an envelope such as a #10 business envelope, a 10xe2x80x3xc3x9713xe2x80x3 flat mailing envelope or custom-sized envelope, to be printed. In such in-line printers, a first multiple print head assembly is located to print in a fixed print area of the substrate as the substrate passes relative to the print head. The first multiple print head assembly may be aligned and located to print in a fixed print area that, for example, may be in the print area that includes the return address or other indicia information. A second multiple print head assembly is located relative to the first print head assembly and positioned to print in a second print area, which may include, for example, the destination address and/or destination barcode. A third multiple print head assembly is located and positioned relative to the second and first multiple print head assemblies and located to print in a third print area, which may include, for example, a message line or optional barcode. The location of the first, second and third print areas on a mail piece are within predetermined areas of the mail piece and are typically specified by United States Postal Service standards to accommodate mechanized mail processing for each of the differently sized mail pieces. When a user desires to print with an in-line printer on a differently sized substrate or mail piece, the print head assemblies must be repositioned and located and locked in a different position to meet the location print area requirements for the size of the mail piece being printed.
In-line printers such as those described above require operator intervention to relocate and reposition the multiple print heads each and every time a differently sized mail piece is printed. The operation and set-up of such in-line printers is labor intensive and cumbersome and less than satisfactory. In addition, the continual resetting and repositioning of the print head assemblies relative to one another may lead to positional error and requires constant verification that the print head assemblies are positioned and located properly to meet the addressing standards for the given size mail piece.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and advantageous to provide an in-line printer having a print head assembly that is automatically positionable to print on each of the desired print areas as the substrate and print head assembly move relative to one a another to print in each of the predetermined print areas of a mail piece.
The present invention substantially obviates, if not entirely eliminates, the disadvantages and shortcomings of in-line printers having multiple spaced-apart print head assemblies that require positioning relative to one another to print in predetermined print areas on a substrate such as a mail piece. The invention accomplishes this by providing an in-line printer having a plurality multiple print head assemblies coupled to a linking mechanism and placed by a motor/belt assembly to properly cover the width of the substrate.
The present invention is an in-line printer for printing on a substrate. The in-line printer comprises several elements which include: a plurality of print head assemblies, each assembly including at least one print head; a first moving mechanism capable of moving the substrate towards the print head assemblies along a feed path in a feed direction, which is substantially perpendicular to the width of the substrate; a linking mechanism for linking the print head assemblies in order to simultaneously place the print head assemblies over a distance; and a second moving mechanism for moving the print head assemblies relative to each other via said linking mechanism in a moving direction substantially parallel to the width of the substrate.
Preferably, the in-line printer further comprises a movable fence for guiding the substrate along the feed path, wherein the movable fence is capable of adjusting a width of the feed path according to the width of the substrate, wherein the linking mechanism is coupled to the fence so that the print head assemblies are placed according to width of the feed path.
Additionally, in a preferred embodiment, the in-line printer further comprises a photosensing device coupled to the linking mechanism such that the photosensing device provides a signal indicative of the linking mechanism having properly placed the print head assemblies according to the width of the feed path, wherein the first moving mechanism is allowed to move the substrate towards the print assemblies in order for the print head to print on the substrate when the signal is provided. The in-line printer further comprises a plurality of guide rails, oriented in a direction substantially parallel to the width of the substrate, for slideably mounting the print head assemblies so as to allow the print head assemblies to move relative to each other along the moving direction. Additionally, each print head assembly has a pin and the linking mechanism has a linking arm including thereon an aperture and at least one slot, wherein the aperture and the slot are engaged with the pins for controlling the placement of the print head assemblies. Preferably, one of the print head assemblies is fixedly mounted relative to the second moving mechanism.
A second aspect of the present invention is a method of in-line printing for printing on a substrate material within a plurality of printing bands, wherein the substrate material has a width and wherein the printing bands are distributed in a predetermined manner over the width. The method comprises the steps of: feeding the substrate material from a feed area into a print area along a feed direction substantially perpendicular to the width; providing a plurality of print-head assemblies in the print area; mechanically linking the print-head assemblies in order to simultaneously place the print-head assemblies over a distance; and providing means to move the print-head assemblies relative to each other via the linking means along a moving direction substantially perpendicular to the feed direction in order to place the print head assemblies over the printing bands.
Preferably, the method further comprises the step of providing a photosensing assembly to indicate when the moving means has properly placed the print head assemblies over the printing bands.
The present invention will become more apparent from an understanding of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.